This is for all questions, discussions, issues and what not that is not directly related to a campaign. Technical issues are to be posted in here as well. Finally, any important Administrator announcements will be made here as well.

First, I send Eklo off to grab the spoils of the Camp Site battle: Fire Armour. Fairly low-end artifact, but neat in this case. Thanks to it, Eklo now has Fire Immunity and Cold Weakness added to his previous Cold Protection and Fire Weakness. Totalled up, this means he takes normal damage from cold, and none from fire. Also, y'know, the +2 defense.

"Why does this... well, this Eklo get all the equipment?"

"The spirits of loot work in mysterious ways."

"I see. Remind me not to ask you next time."

Incidentally, your wish is my command. Not shown: Cavalry being trained in Earlwin.

"This still seems wrong. Frost Witches in an army lead by myself, the shining example of a fire wizard?"

"have you ever considered that YOU might be a little out of place here, not them?"

"Ofcourse not, that would be preposterous. I am merely stuck with a group of unsophisticated savages."

"Your ego could level cities."

"Well, I'm glad someone finally noticed."

Our research list, since Swarm has now being researched. I'll explain the spells shortly.

"Since the list contains no outright incendiary spells, I suppose I have no chance to consult you, my faithful subjects."

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Sorry about the short update, Swarm finished researching rather quickly. Just vote on something to research - this time, since we're researching rather quickly now, I want to have two spells to research. As to what they do, in case you can't be asked to look it up...

Enchant Weapon: Unit buff, +2 attack, +1 damage and Magic Strike.

Skin of Oil: Coats a unit in oil, giving them -2 attack, a debuff to some other stat, and fire weakness.

Anarchy: Attempts to trigger a rebellion in the target city. Unlikely to work if the city has lots of units sitting in it.

Alter Node: Target a node and turn it into a fire node. Very good in the long run.

Efreet: Our second summoned creature, a rank up from hell hounds. Never used them, but then, I hardly ever play Fire either.

Magic Servant: The Cosmos equivelant of hell hounds. honestly, monks are better in several ways already.

City Spy: Allows you to view all cities within your domain. Ofcourse, since you probably own them already....

Disjunction: Dispel Magic for Global spells. Probably very useful, but like Dispel Magic, I've never used it. Yes, I do lack subtlety.

Note that even useless spells can be good, just as something quick to research so a different spell shows up on the list. Also, Efreet and Magic Servant stats can be found under Summoned Creatures. In case you've lost the link by now, this is it.

As you can see from the event log, things have been quite uneventful. I'm just getting units together - the cavalry are staying at Earlwin at this point - and putting them together near the Rift.

"Tom?"

"Yes?"

"I require ultimate cosmic power. Make it so."

"have you noticed the monsters from beyond time and space that guard that place?"

"You mean the ones that I don't have to worry about, since you will be fighting them on my behalf, right?"

"Touché."

This is what we're up against. Three Rift Spawn. They don't hit all that hard or have that many hit points, but have good stats in every other department, VERY good movement (on par with mounted units) and immunity to or protection from everything but physical damage, and one element.

"Can anyone tell me why I'm out here with only a handful of troops, fighting off eldritch abominations at the command of some crazed fire wizard?"

"Cantaloupe, little grasshopper."

"But.. that.. that doesn't even BEGIN to make sense.."

"Welcome to your life."

"hey, you know what these things ARE affected by?"

"Enlighten me, Napalm."

"Fire."

We win, surprisingly enough, with no casualties. Eklo didn't even have to cast his spell for the day.

"ENERGYYYYYY!"

"hush, Gigabyte."

Incidentally, I flipped a coin, and we're going with Gavvin's research scheme. As of the end of this update, we're a day off from finishing research on Alter Node.

"Torthaloneus?"

"What the hell did you just call me?"

"The ruins. Loot them and destroy the inhabitants in my name. NOW."

"Do I look like Indiana Jones to you?"

"Any sufficiently badly lit Frostling is indistinguishable from Indiana Jones. Now get to it."

This is the screen for targetting spells. The red tiles show the area covered, while in the bottom left corner, you're shown the name of the spell and, since it's a damaging spell, the attack and damage stats of the spell, plus the type of damage done. The attack stat is tested against the target's resistance. As you can see, Swarm has some area and lots of accuracy, but is lame when it comes to damage.

"Napalm? Please stop giggling, you're scaring me."

The rest of the battle consists of Eklo marching to the front lines, as Swarm failed to kill anything, and getting cluster-bombed. This takes out the Catapault, but not Eklo. The Butcher then comes forward, and is shot by various things for one damage each, including the CANNON. Eklo then steps forward and hits it for, again, one damage, winning the battle. The loot consists of a Blue Wand, allowing Eklo to shoot magic bolts.

"I approve of this development, as does Nathaniel d'Quincy, my pet snowflake."

"I miss the good old days, when you didn't make an attempt on my sanity's life every day. In fact, LIFE seems to be doing that lately."

Lastly, the three cavalry I trained. I sent them down south, and they found this town. A swashbuckler, one cavalry, two infantry and two crossbowmen willing to join for.. a bit over 800 gold.

"Wait, you want how much?"

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Right, two things to decide. First, what do Defolos and Earlwin build now? Defolos has trained 2 cannons and 2 witches, and Earlwin 3 cavalry, so I think we're set. Second, do we wait until I can bribe that city into joining, bring my forces down south to attack them, or just ignore the city for now?

"Was.. was that an enraged scream I heard from Napalm? Who's currently several miles away?"

"DIE. ELVES. DIE."

"Oh my, looks like we've got our work cut out. If we get there in time, anyway."

"Agreed... wait, are you.. oh god, you're talking to a tent. Again."

"You know, it really is nice to be over in a warm area again. Not that the sudden change in climate isn't disturbing, but it's still a nice bonus."

The mine is guarded by a minotaur. The city to the right - Flowerfield - joins for 700 gold or so, and the city to the left, Swamplake.. I don't know, I haven't asked yet. A similarly exorbitant amount, most likely.

"I can see your house from here.

The lurkers are attacked right outside the gates of Defolos by a frost witch and Napalm herself. Swarming happens. This only does 3 damage to each of them, but on the other hand, it gives them the Swarmed debuff, which does 2 damage every turn. handy, that.

"honestly lads, leaving me out here to fend for myself? You call that an army?"

The Frost witch shoots a bolt, hits and then dies. Napalm proceeds to one-shot both frogs with her bare hands.

"You underestimate my power, Serena."

And here we finish researching Efreet and Alter Node.

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Two and a half votes, plus a disclaimer. First off, what do we research next?

Fire Domain will take heavy upkeep and several turns (atleast 6) or charging up to cast, but will burn any hostile unit in my domain every turn. Fire halo gives a unit fire strike and fire immunity. You know the rest already.

Second, what do I start charging up? Efreet or Alter Node?

Oh, and as the wizard's tower/guild will be completed soon, what should be built after them? The tower unlocks Farcaster/Casting Chamber/Tower 3, while the Guild unlocks Knights and Witches (both human units).

As for the disclaimer? That nameless cavalry guy was a temporary character, much like the librarian.

Enchant Weapon, at this point, takes precisely one turn to research. As such, I'm going to decide what to research for the rest of the update.

We march towards the city, and nothing all that noteworthy happens. Enchant Weapon is researched, so we move on to Skin of Oil: it gives a unit -1 attack/damage/defense/resistance, which is good.

"I can't help but notice that neither of them set people on fire. What's wrong with you people?"

I send the cavalry to attack these wolves guarding a Magic Catalyst, to mix things up. A Catalyst, when taken, speeds up either research or charging time by a LOT. It's a one-off thing, but still nice, and wolves are weak. Napalm doesn't even have to lift a finger before the guards get slaughtered.

"And that, my loyal subjects, is how it should be, though I can't imagine how a rock would help my research."

"You mean you can read?"

"Your days are numbered, Turquoise."

Research is instantly completed, and I begin researching fire halo instead. Also, Alter Node finishes charging, so I cast it on the Air Node. The screenshot was taken halfway between the transformation. No, Targe/Eklo's group still didn't get there, as the Snowscaper and Cannon are slowing them down. A lot.

Next, I move the cavalry to attack the ruins. As it turned out, this was Unwise, as you can probably tell by the pile of corpses. Four bombers took out 3 cavalry, and the Butcher killed another, and slightly injured the last one. There is now precisely one survivor.

"Bah, minions are expendable anyway."

"I love my job."

The Cavalry teleported the spoils - the rather nice shield you see there - to Eklo. If a unit is standing on an artifact-bag, they can spend mana to teleport the artifact in question to your wizard, or a hero. The cost depends on the power of the artifact, and the distance between it and the hero/wizard. In this case, it only cost 60 or so.

"The loot-spirits continue to work in mysteriously biased ways, I see."

"Yes indeed. herring."

"help me."

"We can take your lives, but you'll never take our gold!"

"This is going to be fun. And by fun, I mean a horrible experience which I may or may not die in the course of."

"Aren't we all?"

"All what?"

"If you don't mind, Targe, I was speaking with the stone wall here."

"By all means, carry on."

Tough battle, this. Four archers on the other side of a stone wall means the Snowscaper dies in fairly short order. Later on, a Lurker dies and the Cannon is slightly damaged. Targe flies over the wall, as you can see, and starts taking out archers, starting with the Crossbowman. Spells are cast - Blazing Comet from Eklo, Swarm from Napalm - and Eklo, the Cannon and the lone Cavalry take out the gate. Eklo and the Cavalry charge in after that and take out the rest of the defenders. In the end, we're out two units. Also, veteran status for Targe!

"If this promotion means I'm less expendable, I'm all for it."

"No, it just means you can take more hits."

"Ah, I see. how foolish of me."

Earldom is ours, at some cost. It's identical to Earlwin (notice a theme here?) when we captured it, except that it's a city and thus has a bigger income/production speed. Yay.

"Wait, we just invaded them and killed all the defenders. Why are they so happy?"

"I may or may not have done it."

"Eklo? What did y... oh god."

"You called?"

"Just.. never again. Both of you."

And here's our research list. Disjunction is currently being researched, and will finish researching in 3 turns. I can cancel it, though.

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So. What to do? Where do we go next, what do I do with the cities, and what do I research? I honestly suggest Produce Merchandise for Earldom, since we can't even afford to build a Champion's Guild in Defolos at the moment.

As for the new spells? Cosmic Spray hits an area as large as Swarm with one bolt per tile of a random damage type, complete with (if you're lucky) a debuff. Costs 20 casting points, though, which is more than Swarm.

Fire Elemental is what it says on the tin. The next summon up from Efreet.

Lastly, Forge Blast is a one-off global spell that damages a city's structures and population while also dealing fire damage to all units within the city. Takes 6 turns to charge up at our current rate, though.

Oh, and given our research speed, going for skills may be a good idea. Casting Specialist 1 will only take us 4 turns, while the rest will take 9. Abilities of note include Casting Specialist, given our casting point shortage, Explorer (more movement is always nice), Merchant (maybe. We're short on cash now, atleast), Scholar (even faster research) and Conqueror (50% more xp from kills, yay.)

The start of our researches, as dictated by Tex in chat. Also the current spell being charged up, as dictated by common sense. This update originally wasn't going to happen until my upload cap reset next month, but thanks to Tex lending me her Photobucket account, it's here now. Thanks!

"Why? Why can't I find a single shred or logic or sanity in this.. this hell hole you people call Arvandos?"

"Don't worry, they'll be calling it Napalmistan once I take over."

"Not helping."

Kaskar is a great hero. Why? Because he can fly. he can fly. he's also a spellcaster, which is a bonus. The spell he comes with - Vengeful Vapor - is the basic attack spell for the Water sphere, and worthless. Odd, since the attack consists of partially vaporizing the target. Seriously, this game needs a Geneva convention.

"A life node in MY territory? As if."

"Query: 730 gold?"

"Yes."

"Counterpoint: forget it, I'm out of here."

Continuing east, our moderately awesome explorer stack finds...

"What."

"Do I havea clone?"

"Why are we going sci-fi all of a sudden?"

Meanwhile.. fighting for the production resources. Easy enough, especially with the witch freezing everyone, but the Lurker gets swarmed and dies.

"WAAAAAGH!!"

"Wrong game, idiots."

"Thus endeth the line of Frog. 'Tis a tragedy."

"You know she can always summon more, right?"

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Couple things to vote on. Firstly, what do Earlwin/Earldom/Defolos build now? They're the same as before, except Defolos now has the Casting Chamber (10 more casting points), Enchanted Walls (walls deal damage to and freeze anyone that tries to march through them), Farcaster (bigger domain) and Wizard's Tower 3 unlocked.

If there's no input, I'll be going Master's Guild/Merchandise/Casting Chamber.

Secondly, the resources. They will build either a Champion's or Master's Guild in Earldom/Pick one.

Lastly, the matter of Mab. Knowing the CPU, she'll be declaring war soon. The stack you saw near Kaskar consists of a dire boar (summoned equivelant of a Lurker), a ballista, a barracks melee unit, a level 2 hero and a pair of war hall cavalry units. We can probably win. Do we attack, or leave them alone?